During Wednesday morning's teleconference to discuss fourth quarter financial results, Cox Radio President Bob Neil expressed his disgust with the Performance Rights Act that is now pending in Congress. If passed, the Act would force radio stations to pay royalties for the music they play. Neil said that he views the performance royalty as "a tax that will obviously harm local stations and damage our business at the worst possible time during this unprecedented economic downturn."

He continued, "It will also stifle new artists who need to break into the business. Half of those fees will go directly to big record labels funneling billions of dollars to companies overseas. It’s no secret that for 80 years record labels and performers have thrived financially from free radio airplay, while local radios benefited from local ad dollars. With this model, radio reaches over 235 million listeners weekly, representing an unprecedented marketing machine for artists and labels."

Neil added that radio is directly responsible for billions of dollars in music sales annually. "Recognizing this, Congress has repeatedly declined to impose a performance tax on local radio going back to the 1970s," he said. "We’ll continue to work with the NAB and our peers in the industry, continue to voice our opposition to this bill, which would only penalize radio and benefit the big overseas labels."

The Performance Rights Act was introduced in the Senate earlier this month by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Bob Corker (R-TN) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and in the House by Representatives by John Conyers (D-MI), Howard Berman (D-CA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Jane Harman (D-CA), John Shadegg (R-AZ) and Paul Hodes (D-NH). A hearing on the Performance Rights Act was set for March 4, but was postponed due to a conflict with the British Prime Minister's planned address to a joint session of Congress.